Tag Archives: irrigation repairs

but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

You know it’s been too long since my last update when peers across town are calling asking if I’m okay! “Yes sir” Mark all well just been busy great speaking with you sir. I’ll start there we have had many happenings since June or July and even a Holliday or 2 pass through, but it has been mostly dry and warm which is conducive for mycelium development. Our program of fungistats have been working on fairways, tees, and greens. I have taken “cide” out of my terminology for several reasons and here are two. 1. A fungicide does not actually kill a disease it only suppresses it for a given time frame during conducive conditions. 2. As an industry that constantly gets a negative connotation it makes no logical sense to re-iterate number 1 constantly for the subliminal subconscious or unconscious. We utilize Best Management Practices and that’s our adoptive mantra moving forward.

I got to meet another Ret. Air Force Colonel in early September, Bob Darden came over from Beavercreek to check out Players Club. I got to ride nine holes with him and yes we are cousins.

Robert Darden and Darden Robert Nicks above and Robert Darden and his friend below. I believe my entire family was either military, teachers, farmers, preachers, esquires, and then me. Someone had to fall off the turnip truck!

We have finally gotten some needed rain even through the Low is 71 this morning for an October day. It is groundhogish of sorts lately and before I knew it the second week of October was upon us! We have gotten over 2.5” since Friday with a little more on the way. Thanks Nate. Rain gauge at CH and 1 Players this morning. We will be open by noon with a Staff of 1.

Yes I wore red and my NC State hat. I took the fall and let her wear the OSU hat. I did not cheer against OSU. And they beat the turtles which is always great being an old ACC Foe! That’s probably the only ACC school none of us graduated from.

July 28 Judge Tom Journell came by the course and was feeling great and played few holes with his friend Cliff Nelson from the racing commission. Unfortunately, as many of y’all know he died August 8, 2016. He was a very brilliant and humble gentleman who loved his wife, children, and grandchildren very much.Tom would have certainly agreed with Paul on this verse below.

Philippians 3:20. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

The days are getting a little shorter and Fall is right around the corner. We have had a very busy July and August. Thus the reason for a delayed updated post. I try to extend information on Twitter and Insragram daily in which our new webmaster will disseminate it through Facebook. We added a new flow meter to the players club pump station a couple of weeks ago. Thanks Mid-Ohio for getting that done! Chuck and I went over to Eaton,Ohio later that morning for Judge’s funeral and stopped for lunch.

We have also been busier than normal but Chuck and I did make it to his funeral, along with my Dad who met us there!

Beautiful sunrise this morning for the tournament on Foxfire and the irrigation leak we had last night on 12 fairway was repaired by 8:30 this morning with a new quick coupler and the system was recharged. Thank you Luis, Chuck, & Rodolfo. Rodolfo and Luis have been doing an excellent job helping repair the equipment while Jim is quickly recovering from his surgery. He will return soon. ​Rodolfo added an egg to the radiator on the Massey range tractor to stop the radiator leak! There are no more radiators for this 1987 model in the country. ​

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We got six eggs and the range tractor is still holding up 4 weeks later answer added and egg to the John Deere tee mower radiator and it is now back in operation.

Eggs to fox Radiator Leaks

Last Friday 8/26/2016 Brad inspected the greens we selectively sprayed plant protectants with Sympony from Harrells, which is a moisture retention product to assist in the infiltration of the Flutolanil on the basidimycetes or commonly know as Fairy Ring. I explained the science behind this 2-3 posts ago ergo I’ll list the numbers and a photo of 6 Players to remind everyone what it looks like. We applied protectants to #6/10/17 Foxfire and #6,8,9,10, Nursery Green.

Dark Green Circle On Right Sideof Greens is the Fairy Ring

Now the I Beam on the bridge to one Players will be repaired this Fall thank you Brooks for assembling temporary bridge-we will attempt to complete this tie in for utilization with in the next two weeks so stay tuned for updates. If you can pick me up a transit that would be wonderful to have for complete ting this project correctly as well as some of the bunker projects. Here is a glimpse of the under side of one of the I-Beams- it’s still usable for regular traffic just not heavy equipment like loaders etc.

Rusted cracked I-Beam 1 Players bridge

Next, and most importantly everyone has been asking when are we going to “fix the bunkers?” We are currently restorating and remodeling #2 Foxfire, #1 Players,#6 & # 7 greenside. What does this mean? Exactly what the verbiage states some areas of the bunkers that were originally intended to be spectacle areas and are useless for playability will be blended out with dirt and sodded. You will see red or blue paint designating the remodeling. These bunkers need to stay “ground under repair” until we have all the resources to blend in these areas with dirt and sod the same day! Logistically, with 12 staff members we will be blessed to complete theses holes by the end of next week. Several steps must be taken to assure that the sand is dispersed properly and has the correct resistance penatromimally. That may be a new word, but there is a proper resistance and depth the sand must have to create proper consistemcy and playability. Also, we are repairing any drainage as necessary. I will ensure the correct penatrometer measurements based on my experience, but there is a device we may purchase for several hundred dollars that gives a reading that correlates to a scale the USGA came up with. Basically, we don’t want a fried egg lay in the bunker or plug on the face. That’s all that fancy jargon is talking about. I am adding a link to my you tube account so you may watch how I am checking the traps throuout the process. Darden Testing Playability

#18 Players is restorated but needs to packed several more times with a vibratory plate tamp. You will see irrigation flags in theses bunkers please do not move them nor remove them. They are marking the depth for the sand.

Six Players Green Side example of remodeling a section and measuring area for sod. Six and seven Players above one day apart and the dump truck got stuck and we utilized the backhoe to pull him in to dump the sand. I will blend in the areas with paint to eliminate future opportunity cost, yet keep the integrity of the design for playability and slope ratings. Ergo, remember for the next two weeks take a free drop from these few holes. OnTo, Foxfire #5 green side bunker will be coverted to a grass knoll bunker the spectacle bunker on 10 Foxfire behind the green will be upgraded to a newer style landscape bed since the severity of the topographical gradient is beyond restoring or renovating. We will remodel with some low maintenance colorful grass plants designed with 3 big rocks as foundational functionality to triangulate the cord grass, fountain grass or viburnum. ​Below plate tamping # Players Green side. ​Darden Plate Tamp #1 Players Next video is # 2 Foxfire dispersing sand and explaining the “process”#2 Foxfire Sand Dispersal

Finally, this summer many neighboring and high end courses have been ravaged with horrible diseases so we have been proactively vigilant utilizing best managment practices and staying on a schedule stretching applications as far apart as possible and much of this has been done by utilizing nutrients already present in the soil through a process called “mining” in which we drop the physical hydraulic conductivity of the water when applying plant protectants for fairways and greens using an acid buffer, iron, primo a synergistic growth regulator that enhances the efficacy of the iron, acid, and fungistats to last longer. We also add a phosphite from Harrells every 2weeks on our greens schedule to help prevent Pythium Blight. Our next greens nutrient application is this Tuesday and our next Tee and Fairway application for the Foxfire course will applied tomorrow on Monday. Thank you all for your prayers and support and stay tuned for updates! Thank you to my team members for your hard work and dedication. I’ll leave with a few more photos from the last few weeks. Have a blessed Sunday!

Saturday Sunrise8-27-2016

​Daltons last day will be memorable for him. I believe he woke up when he hit the water. Got the call- ‘Hey Darden””Yes ” I said. “My right wheel went in the lake!” Ok, I said go get it. He said “I can’t I tried and it’s too heavy.” Can’t be if it’s just the tire. He said, “well I can’t lift it.” I said, huh so is the tire still hooked up to the mower? Yes sir!’

James 1:12Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

The fax arrived the other night after the flowers! Not everyone from our generation won or got a trophy so I have to celebrate each day! Saturday she won best wife for 629,596,800 Seconds of Holy Matrimony!

July 4th it will be this many days From and including: Saturday, July 20, 1996

To, but not including Monday, July 4, 2016

Result: 7289 days

It is 7289 days from the start date to the end date, but not including the end date

Or 19 years, 11 months, 14 days excluding the end date

Alternative time units

7289 days can be converted to one of these units:

629,769,600 seconds

10,496,160 minutes

174,936 hours

7289 days

1041 weeks and 2 days

1996.99% of a common year (365 days)

The Esquire turned 47 years old today and my parents had their 49 wedding Anniversairy yesterday!

The Coyotes seem to be working by detracting the geese from where we want them to go.

We spent the better part of Friday and Sarurday repairing irrigation wires and solenoids. Thanks Joel for coming out and helping straighten out 8/11/3//17. The wire pattern. Brad and Joel and Chuck were able to stay and help.

Joel Braun Technical Choice, Llc Owner & Expert with tracking Equipmnet found the bad splices. I don’t care who you are if you do not have the equipment to track and locate this kind of work can not be accomplished. Hopefully, one day we can get a ground fault locator and wore tracker. And yes I still know how to fix a solenoid! Luis helped along with Joey and Braskett.

We have been blessed with a bunch of play this weekend.

Thank you to whomever stole the entire USA Flag, tournament pole and embroidered American Flag! That’s $87.96 for one flag and pole! Someone temporarily moved the flags by the entrance way in and set in hole on #2 Fox.

These were an idea I had this Hilliday weekend with the older flags to line the roadway! They looked great there but it never fails someone always has to try and ruin it or steal from us! Jacob made me aware of the situation last night and we corrected it this morning. Dr. On Friday out early enjoying the Players Course

Swampy came out to help trim the sidewalks and around the club house beds. He still has the state record for the long jump! Thank you to the Hollens for inviting us over to their home for a cook out yesterday! ​Not often your Equipment Manager is a professional driver!

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Friday night we were able to video and start digging up ground for the faulted cables. ​

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We are continuing to Handwater greens and this is a training video of me teaching the guys how we need to water the fairy ring spots with the tablets. Enjoy your 4th of July,stay safe, thank a veteran!

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The rains have stopped and I re-charged the Players Club pump station yesterday and re-wired the irrigation box on #15 Players Club! Remember we only have the ability to water at 47% capacity right now until we get the 3 pumps replaced. Ergo, we will have to rotate different holes during the night and water will continue running thru the morning ahead of play. We had another packed day today which is great. We will be hand watering greens when applicable. All the fairways, tees, and greens are on schedule with their plant protectants from diseases, and have had nutrient applications.

Sunrise Friday Morning!

Senior League from Tuesday!

Turtleman caught a couple big turtles out of the Little Walnut Creek somewhere around here! 58lbs. And the one that was still alive was 38lbs. That should feed him for awhile.

Treceia did an excellent job mowing rough while Nancy was on vacation even when she had tree branches on top of her! Jim repaired the range picker twice this week, and we finally got the fairway unit cutting correctly with 5 out of the 7 reels operating! Brad was able to stripe all the fairways. I like the checkers!
I enjoyed playing a few holes of Golf on Friday with some of the members and Tom, the owner!

Jim got the motor taken off of Mrs. Graves Ariens zero turn mower to rebuild one of the pistons.

A busy Saturday morning included mowing rough and irrigation repairs. Travis learned how to switch out a sprinkler head on #18 Foxfire tee and mowed some secondary rough on one Players. The Judge is back with laser vision and laser stripes.

Irrigation running on #15 Players this morning!

Halfway house flowers and beds will have mulch added to them next week!

Leak on #13 Players is repaired and the irrigation box with out power on #10 Foxfire is complete! Thank you Joel Braun from Technical Choice Llc, for the speedy response time and repair to the broken wire on the foxfire course. I was surprised to see it went through dump area since the map is completely opposite. Thank you Vince from Mid Ohio Electric for assessing the Players Course Pump Station, I will keep you updated on future faults and trips on the breaker panel. Thank you to the staff for their diligent work on traps, roughs, fairways and details. Luis string trimmed the creeks, and Brandon & TJ worked in the Bunkers all week. Nick was placed back in the starting lineup after a week long suspension for violating team rules and was able to weedeate all the fence posts on the courses. Also we were able to pick up a nice used grinder for our equipment manager! A brand new one from Berhard would have costs 60K and I verified that price through the local distributor John Deere. I will work on pricing a modified lease with them to coordinate fairway mowers since our only one in operation went down this afternoon. The good news is we have 2 greens mowers one tee mower, and two rough units, along with a sidewinder. A decision will need to be made soon on repairing or aquiring additional utility vehicles because we only have 5 to date. However, the shops are organized and clean we just need to decide on the non functioning mowers in which there are about ten. I will see what value they have if any on a trade in. I do not want to scrap them of yet because the scrap metal market is down from ten cents to 3.5 cents per pound. Thank you all again for your input and suggestions and. Mr. Billy Brooks for watching the auction on the reel grinder. Properly ground sharp mowers will decrease future costs with regards to plant protection chemistry applications because the turf will be healthier. As always it is a pleasure to serve you! Keep praying God is doing great things at Foxfire!

Breaker tripped on Plc control panel in Players pump house and a burried quick couple had a pin hole leak on. #13 Players tee.

The inside of the shop looks the best since my arrival. We remain focused on the resources we have instead of what we don’t have! God is providing! Mike earned extra credit so I allowed him to haul a load of aluminum after work. With the increased play we have accumulated more trash and cans. Aluminum is slightly up today so Mike went fishing .

Thank you Joel for squeezing me in last night and Mark Novotny CGCS my hero and mentor for allowing me to use your equipment on such short notice.

Jim installed his new shelves today and we have created more room in both bays to park our assets. We are not finished there is an entire corner left to go through.

Birds nesting on 3 Players!

Inspecting what we expect! TJ and Brandon have done an excellent job taking ownership!